"We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now."

While the words from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963 dealt with racism and division within America, the concept of vibrant activism to combat tragedy transpires beyond generations.

It can serve as a unifier within a community needing not only to heal but to take action to create something positive or prevent something negative.

On Aug. 27, 2010, scores of young adults gathered on the lawn at the Haymarket Town Center property for a hastily thrown together rally organized through word of mouth and Facebook.

Nine days after a memorial to a Battlefield High School student and a graduate killed in a car accident, friends of the fallen joined to fight drunk driving and other community problems.

"Friends Against Losing Lives," read one sign. "Working to stop violence, bullying, suicides and alcohol related deaths in teens."

Those lining the sidewalks pleaded with commuters along Washington Street to stay safe and to donate change to help one of the survivors from the last crash.

"One penny can save one life, I promise you!" exclaimed Dustin Lueker to a driver who pulled up next to him.

"Ma'am, 25 cents is all we need," said Kenneth Smith, an Osbourn High School graduate attending George Mason University.

"You can make a difference!" yelled Kevin Bouffard to the passengers of a blue Chrysler. "Thank you so much!"

Brownies and cupcakes sold under a tent brought in money too, while Haymarket police officers demonstrated how to perform field sobriety tests with their teenage volunteers. Some kids skateboarded and others signed an oversized card for an injured friend.

In the end, all the donated change and dollar bills added up: the Battlefield community raised $260, according to Rachel Carpino (BHS Class of '09).

"We wanted this to be fun for people," she said.

Lynsay Dubrule, a senior a Battlefield, added that the event could make a difference in encouraging teenagers not to drink and drive or otherwise act destructively.

"Our goal is just to let people know," she said.

Half of the money raised was to be set aside for a 16-year-old girl, who sustained several injuries to her lower torso in the crash that killed two of her fellow students.

The other half was meant to pay processing fees so Friends Against Drunk Driving can become legally organized as a nonprofit.

The Gainesville girl's father, Tom, described the rally as "totally awesome," something he whole-heartedly supported.

He recalled what it was like looking at his daughter's friends who came to visit her following the accident.

"When I was in the hospital, I could just see in their eyes that something had changed," he said.

The Battlefield community lost three members of its extended family in two local vehicle accidents this summer. Alcohol reportedly played a role in those crashes, according to police and family statements.

Rather bluntly, Dubrule and Carprino stressed the motto: don't become a statistic.

Yolanda Meffert, whose 15-year-old son Derek died in the most recent wreck, drove home the message of prevention by opting for an open-casket viewing at her son's wake.

She said that next to the casket, she placed a picture of Derek taken after the crash and before the mortician had reconstructed his face. She did it, she said, so that those stopping by to wish their respects could see "what could happen to them."

"They couldn't believe that this was the same person," she said, later adding that she signed off on the presentation because "my child is dead. That's a shell."

The elder Meffert described her son's death in stark terms and offered details of the crash in order to make a point.

When the Mazda driven by 18-year-old Stephen Dixon swerved into traffic on Logmill Road, she said the grill of the oncoming Acura collided directly with the passenger side of the Mazda, where Derek sat. She said the force of the impact split her son's nose "in half" and glass shards tore into his skin.

While she credited the mortician with being able to reconfigure her son's remains, Meffert said Derek's profile no longer looked the same.

"He looked like somebody else," she said.

Her basic message to young and old alike: don't put yourself in a position where you can suffer the same fate, through driving or being a passenger with someone you don't think should be driving.

For Courtney Clay, who masterminded the event, the rally served as something more than just a protest for drunk driving, though that was what sparked it. She wanted to serve as a champion for those victimized by bullying, divorce, depression and other societal problems too,

Clay, a 19-year-old graduate of Battlefield, said she had seen the fruition of those problems bloom in suicides.

"It's just like, be nice to people. You never know how big of an affect you can have," said Clay.

She added, "No one wants you to die over a drink."